Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation Parish / Pré d'en Haut
Established before 1755
First church: 1842
Present church: 1934
First priest: 1941
Pré-d’en-Haut is situated West of the Memramcook Valley on the banks of the Petitcodiac River. The parish limits extend from Dover to Beaumont.
This region was first served as a mission by priests from Saint Thomas of Memramcook parish and later by the Holy Cross Fathers. The first chapel, dedicated to Saint Ann, was built in Beaumont in 1842 on a small Micmac Reserve. The small church in Beaumont sometimes still serves as a place of worship.
The present church in Pré-d’en-Haut was built in 1934, before the parish was canonically erected in 1940. Fr. Arcade Goguen served the mission from 1939. The first resident priest was Fr. Azarius Massé who came in 1941.
The Holy Cross Fathers built a novitiate in this parish in 1958. Later, this building would house ‘La Maison Sainte-Croix”. For several years, it would serve as a well-known centre for spiritual and Christian formation. Today, the building is occupied by Teen Challenge Atlantic.